Chapter 71
Anschel’s hand, caught in the explosion, turned bright red. His hand throbbed, likely from burns.
This is really something else.
He nearly cursed out loud. Suddenly, a bitter laugh escaped him. He felt empty, wondering what sin he had committed to risk his life in such an enormous situation, but the image of his parents’ backs that appeared in his mind made his heart ache.
His parents who had worked themselves to death without properly taking care of themselves, all for him, an ability user. Anschel raised his head.
“Harriet-nim.”
“……”
Harriet seemed dazed. Anschel had the impression that Harriet’s eyes, which he glimpsed in passing, had spread slightly with green. But when he looked again, Harriet’s eyes were still faded white. Anschel called Harriet again.
“Harriet-nim.”
“Hmm?”
Whether or not he knew that Ender had jumped into a fire pit for his sake, Harriet smiled slightly at Anschel without changing his expression. Seeing that small, troubled smile, Anschel was momentarily speechless. If you let your guard down, monsters would pop up from everywhere.
“Should we go?”
“……”
Still, proving he wasn’t completely thoughtless, Harriet kept silent for a moment. Anschel had briefly seen the contact location address that they had provided before the laptop exploded. He planned to follow Harriet’s judgment on whether to go or not. The leader here was Harriet, not Ender.
Even though Harriet was far below Anschel in rank, Anschel was unconsciously following Harriet like a superior. Harriet smiled faintly and tapped his chin with his finger. That single light gesture made Anschel feel like his heart was sinking.
“There’s a high chance it’s a trap.”
Ann cut in from the side, shaking his head. He had turned pale after seeing his people die in such a futile and humiliating manner. It was sad to see how his usually sly smiling face had hardened.
Anger rippled in Ann’s blue eyes. Merpeople who said they would forgive humans had to endure and bear this anger at any moment. Anschel thought it was too unfair. Even from his perspective as a human, the situation the merpeople were placed in was so unreasonable that it made his chest tight.
“Anschel.”
“Yes.”
Anschel answered Harriet’s call.
“Did Ender leave any message before he left?”
“……”
He did.
Ender had left without a word to Harriet, but before that, he had given Anschel one order. Against the dark night sky, Ender came looking for Anschel, leaving Harriet at home, his red eyes darkly flickering.
He had earphones plugged in, which Anschel could only assume were connected to the listening device he had once given to Harriet.
“He did.”
“What did he say?”
“…He told me to watch over you and make sure you never leave this place.”
This jurisdiction was created by Ender to protect Harriet. Harriet maintained his smile as he stroked his temple.
Rustle. His lifeless white hair passed through his fingers. Ender liked to touch Harriet’s hair. He would either pull it firmly or touch it gently like handling something fragile. Harriet’s red lips, the only color on his face, opened.
“Let’s go.”
“Pardon?”
“Let’s go, Anschel. To where that collaborator is.”
“Someday, you’ll act according to your emotions too.”
That’s what Alcita had said, but Harriet still couldn’t understand its meaning. Harriet had no difficulty feeling things in his own way, though it didn’t show.
He liked sweet things and cocoa. He found Angela and Ryan cute, and he thought it wasn’t bad to live leisurely in a rural village, plowing fields. And the animals here were very interesting and lovely.
Alcita had taught him. Children like sweet things, can’t eat spicy things well, and should love animals. He had shown him how to do so. Therefore, he also knew that if he had been taught how to be angry or sad, things might have been very different.
“Harriet-nim…”
Harriet released his chin-resting posture and turned to Ann who was sitting beside him. Currently, Anschel, Ann, and Harriet were in the car. It was too dangerous to move with all the merpeople, and the merpeople said they wouldn’t go because they intended to head towards the Eastern Sea as planned, even if Ann died.
They did not waver in their beliefs despite seeing such a horrible video. In a way, they were remarkable people. More stubborn and stronger than humans.
Harriet smiled slightly, pressing his thumb with his fingernail. Strangely, every time he saw them, he was reminded of his first deployment to the Eastern Sea. He recalled the blood-red sea where they sank. But that was all. Harriet had not yet learned how to sympathize.
“Are you happy?”
“…Hmm.”
Even Anschel was silent at the sudden question. Ann was still Ann even in this situation. He asked Harriet with his blue eyes glowing warmly.
Harriet didn’t find this life bad in his own way. It was peaceful and quiet. The villagers called Harriet “chief” and treated him kindly. When the wrinkles of the elderly smoothed out with bright smiles, he thought it was pleasant to see in passing.
“I suppose…”
Harriet mumbled in a low voice. Flickering streetlights illuminated the already darkened road. Harriet’s white face repeatedly turned orange and then dark again.
Harriet had never once been happy. Similarly, he had never been unhappy. But lately, that thought was gradually changing.
“It would have been nice if Ender were here.”
Hearing that answer, Ann smiled gently.
Right. It would be nice if Ender were beside him, whispering “sunbae, sunbae” like a cat to Harriet. Though it had only been a day, Harriet truly missed Ender.
After driving along the road for a while, the car entered an alley. Harriet always expressed renewed admiration for Anschel’s driving skills. The car moved smoothly despite turning through various alleys. And soon, Anschel reached their destination.
“We’re arriving now.”
Harriet smiled slightly as he slipped a small dagger into his back pocket. Then, holding his cane, he opened the car door first. Harriet, who got out of the car silently, tapped the ground with his cane, making a knocking sound.
Anschel got out of the driver’s seat with the engine still running so they could escape by car immediately if needed. Ann followed behind, though in reality, he wasn’t much help in combat except underwater.
Anschel had planned to raid the warehouse silently, but Ann, not being a trained soldier, couldn’t muffle his footsteps.
Was that typical of Ann?
Anschel sighed and dropped the surprise attack plan. He hadn’t really expected it to succeed anyway. A moment later, Anschel opened the small warehouse door. Under the gradually darkening sky, the small warehouse had a damp and eerie atmosphere like an abandoned house.
Anschel swallowed hard and opened the door completely. He thought about how he’d been going to so many places lately. The door opened, but it was so dark inside that he couldn’t see anything.
Anschel narrowed his eyes, not lowering his guard, and wiggled his fingers to use his ability at any moment. But before that, Harriet grabbed Anschel’s nape and pulled him back sharply.
“Ack?!”
Anschel unwittingly screamed. Harriet pulled Anschel back while taking out a small knife he had hidden behind him and lightly threw it at a specific spot. There was a dull sound followed by people gasping.
There was a brief murmuring from inside, then a man’s low laughter as everything brightened. Anschel frowned at the heat that surrounded them.
Rather than turning on lights, fires floated in the air here and there like will-o’-the-wisps. When visibility improved, the first thing visible was Harriet’s knife that had pierced through the wrist of a man who had aimed a gun at them.
“More impressive than expected.”
The voice was very deep and low. Harriet slowly turned his head. There, a man wearing a rabbit mask was sitting in a chair. The old metal chair creaked. Who knows how long he had been waiting there, but cigarette butts were piled high on the floor.
A total of 12 men, all armed. Each of them wore bizarre animal masks.
“Trust should be the first priority for cooperation. Yet you wear masks and even try to attack.”
“Can’t trust worthless people who would fall for such a raid.”
The man in the rabbit mask spoke very leisurely. Anschel narrowed his eyes, trying to gauge the man’s intentions, wondering if it was indeed a trap or if he had some ulterior motive. But the man’s voice sounded somehow familiar when heard directly.
‘Where have I heard it before…?’
The man in the rabbit mask opened his mouth indifferently. His quite mature voice made it difficult to determine his age, but he appeared to be around fifty.
“Nothing rash either. What if I were Dante’s pawn trying to kill you?”
He spoke lightly, but it was not at all light for them. They were surrounded by armed soldiers, who even seemed to be ability users.
Damn, it’s hard enough to face 12 armed soldiers, let alone ability users.
Cold sweat ran down his spine. Anschel also clicked his tongue, regretting making such a rash decision. His vigilance had weakened more than usual due to his anxiety about Ender walking straight into Dante’s scheme.
Anschel moistened his parched lips with his tongue. At that moment, Harriet calmly stepped forward and took out the pistol he had prepared in his back pocket.
“…Harriet-nim.”
“Three minutes.”
“Pardon?”
Anschel swallowed. As always, Harriet’s whispering voice, as if nothing mattered, had no inflection. Harriet leisurely loaded his gun in front of everyone and smiled slightly as if troubled.
“I think it will take about three minutes to deal with all of them.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
